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FACTORY emissions and disappearing forests have been identified as major forces in climate change. Now researchers have discovered a new factorHarry Potter.

According to a paper published this October in IEEE Spectrum magazine entitled "Harry Potter and the health of the environment", more than a quarter of a million copies of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire were delivered by Amazon.com in the US last year, setting a record for online orders.

The 400 grams of packaging used to encase each of those books went straight to landfill. And that, say authors Scott Matthews, Chris Hendrickson and Lester Lave, is cause for alarm for those worried about the environmental impact of e-commercenot to mention all the carbon dioxide emitted by planes and trucks that deliver the goods.

While online ordering does mean that Mom doesn't have to drive a gas-guzzling car to the mall to get her kid (or ...

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